Cristobal Krusen

A writer, actor, and internationally-acclaimed director, Cristóbal Krusen was born and raised in Tampa, Florida. While an English major at Harvard University, he intended pursuing a career as a novelist and poet. A growing interest in photography and the history of cinema, however, led him to simultaneously explore the world of filmmaking. Eventually, he changed his major and schools, graduating from New York University (BFA, Film and Television) in 1976. His filmmaking career began that same year in New York City with a small production company making commercials and industrial films. In the years that followed, Cristóbal worked for other New York-based companies in a range of capacities, including script reader, film editor, writer, and finally director/producer.

In the mid-1980s, Cristóbal began to focus on Spanish-language productions for U.S. based relief agencies and Christian ministries overseas. In 1988, he founded Messenger Films, and produced his first dramatic film, the award-winning Ropa Nueva para Felipe (New Clothes for Felipe). In 1989 and 1990, Cristóbal completed work for a Master of Fine Arts Degree (with an emphasis on film directing) at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.

From 1991 to the end of 1999, Cristóbal produced award-winning docudramas in Latin America (Rescatados del Infierno, Destino Final), as well as internationally broadcast commercials, and his second motion picture, the award-winning ¿Con Quién Te Vas? (With Whom Will You Go?).

Cristóbal’s fifth film, Final Solution, was shot on location in South Africa and first released in 2003. By way of a true-life story set in theapartheid era of South Africa, Final Solution takes a penetrating look at racism and injustice, while at the same time exploring themes of healing and reconciliation. In addition to airing nationally over PBS and appearing as an official selection at numerous African film festivals, Final Solution has received numerous awards at other international festivals, including the Heartland Film Festival, WorldFest Houston, the Marco Island Film Festival, the New York Independent Film Festival, the Down Under International Film Festival, and the Sabaoth International Film Festival in Milan, Italy.

In 2004 and 2005, Cristóbal journeyed to four continents to write and direct More Than Dreams, a three-hour docudrama featuring true stories of Muslims who have experienced life-changing dreams and visions of Jesus Christ. To date the film has been distributed worldwide in nearly fifty languages.

In 2006, Cristóbal, wrote and directed the award-winning First Landing, a made-for-TV movie broadcast over the ABC Family Channel in 2007. First Landing tells the true story of the English crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in 1606/1607 that led to the founding of Jamestown, the first permanent English-speaking settlement in the New World.

In 2008, Cristóbal wrote and directed The Bill Collector, a feature film comedy starring Danny Trejo (Winner Redemptive Film Festival). He also wrote and directed Undaunted: The Early Life of Josh McDowell, which will be released on DVD in the fall of 2012 by EchoLight Studios. In July 2012, Undaunted was awarded two Crown Awards at the ICVM Film Festival in Orlando, Florida for Best Docudrama and Best Evangelistic Film. Production plans for 2012 and 2013 include two feature films – 33 Hope and The Search.

Cristóbal is married and the father of six children. He and his wife, Cheryl, live in Belize.